Legacy of Nixon tapes: Skepticism, distrust endure WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s a good thing Richard Nixon was such a klutz. The president’s ineptness at all things mechanical is what prompted his aides to install a voice-activated recording system that didn’t require Nixon to push an on-off button, ensuring that every word he spoke in the Oval Office and other key locations was caught on tape. With the secret taping system on autopilot — seven microphones planted in wall sconces and the president’s...

US home sales hit 5.4M in July, highest since ’09 WASHINGTON (AP) — For the first time since 2009, previously occupied U.S. homes are selling at a pace associated with a healthy market. Sales jumped 6.5 percent in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.4 million, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday. Over the past 12 months, sales have surged 17.2 percent. The trend shows that housing remains a driving force for the economy even as mortgage rates have risen from record ...

US unemployment aid applications rise to 336,000 WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week after reaching the lowest level in 5 1/2 years. But the broader trend suggests companies are laying off fewer workers and could step up hiring in the months ahead. The Labor Department said Thursday that applications for first-time benefits rose 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 336,000 in the week ending Aug. 17. That’s up from 323,000 in the previous we...

Spontaneous goat manure fire stinks up Vt. town WINDSOR, Vt. (AP) — A pile of goat manure spontaneously caught fire, spreading stench and wrinkling noses through a Vermont town but causing no damage, officials said. The odor evoked “a damp kind of burning leaves or brush fire,” Windsor Town Manager Tom Marsh said. A worker on her way to milk goats discovered the fire in the 120-cubic-yard manure pile around 3 a.m. Wednesday, said George Redick, owner of the 800-goat Oak Knoll Dairy. He and ...

NSA reveals more secrets after court order WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration has given up more of its surveillance secrets, acknowledging that it was ordered to stop scooping up thousands of Internet communications from Americans with no connection to terrorism — a practice it says was an unintended consequence when it gathered bundles of Internet traffic connected to terror suspects. One of the documents that intelligence officials released Wednesday came because a court orde...

Afghan massacre victim takes stand, curses gunman JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Washington (AP) — An Afghan farmer shot during a massacre in Kandahar Province last year took the witness stand Tuesday against the U.S. soldier who attacked his village, cursing him before breaking down and pleading with the prosecutor not to ask him any more questions. Haji Mohammad Naim appeared Tuesday in the courtroom at Joint Base Lewis-McChord south of Seattle, where a sentencing hearing began for Staff Sgt. Ro...

Prosecutors rest in Fort Hood shooting trial FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) — Military prosecutors rested their case Tuesday against the Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people during the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood. After calling nearly 90 witnesses in 11 days, prosecutors said they had completed their case during Maj. Nidal Hasan’s trial. Hasan also is accused of wounding more than 30 people at the Texas Army post during the attack, which was the worst mass shooting ever on a U.S....

Best-selling author Elmore Leonard dies at 87 DETROIT (AP) — He was the master of his genre, the Dickens of Detroit, the Chaucer of Crime. Pretty much every novel Elmore Leonard wrote from the mid-1980s on was a best-seller, and every fan of crime stories knew his name. George Clooney was an admirer. So were Quentin Tarantino, Saul Bellow and Stephen King and millions of ordinary readers. Leonard, who died Tuesday at age 87, helped achieve for crime writing what King did for horror and Ra...

3 teens charged in death of Australian playerDUNCAN, Okla. (AP) — With a motive that’s both chilling and simple — to break up the boredom of an Oklahoma summer — three teenagers randomly targeted an Australian collegiate baseball player who was attending school in the U.S. and killed him for fun, prosecutors said Tuesday as they charged two of the boys with murder. Prosecutor Jason Hicks called the boys “thugs” as he described how Christopher Lane, 22, of Melbourne, was shot once in the ...

TiVo refreshes lineup with 6-tuner Roamio DVRs NEW YORK (AP) — TiVo Inc. wants to give television viewers more control over what they watch on traditional channels and over the Internet as the pioneer of digital video recorders unveils its fifth-generation devices. The new devices face more competition than TiVos did when they debuted in 1999. Cable and satellite TV companies are improving their own DVR offerings, while stand-alone devices such as Roku, Apple TV and Google’s Chromecast see...

No copays, easier pills may reduce blood pressureCHICAGO (AP) — New research suggests giving patients easier-to-take medicine and no-copay medical visits can help drive down high blood pressure, a major contributor to poor health and untimely deaths nationwide. Those efforts were part of a big health care provider’s eight-year program, involving more than 300,000 patients with high blood pressure. At the beginning, less than half had brought their blood pressure under control. That increased...

US weighs pros, cons of cutting some aid to Egypt WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration, undertaking a major review of U.S. relations with Egypt, edged closer to a decision Tuesday about curtailing some of America’s $1.5 billion in annual aid after the Egyptian military’s crackdown on supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi. Top administration officials met at the White House to review the possibility of cutting military or economic aid to Egypt, a longtime U.S. ally and the most p...

Judge to announce Manning’s sentence WednesdayFORT MEADE, Md. (AP) — A military judge said she’ll announce on Wednesday the sentence for Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, who gave reams of classified information to WikiLeaks. Army Col. Denise Lind said Tuesday she was still deliberating but she was confident she would have a sentence by Wednesday morning. “At 10 a.m. tomorrow I will announce the sentence,” Lind said about 2 1/2 hours into her deliberations. Manning faces up to 90 years in prison...

San Diego mayor back in lawsuit settlement talks SAN DIEGO (AP) — San Diego’s embattled mayor on Tuesday spent a second day in settlement talks over a sexual harassment lawsuit against him, as petitions circulated to recall the former congressman who has been besieged by allegations from more than a dozen women. City Council President Todd Gloria and Councilman Kevin Faulconer confirmed that Mayor Bob Filner has been present at the talks involving the lawsuit filed by his former communicatio...

Survey: Health insurance costs outpace wage gains Workers saw a modest rise in the average cost of employer-sponsored health insurance this year, but they’re probably not overwhelmed with relief. Coverage costs still are climbing faster than wages. That means, in many cases, a bigger portion of the average paycheck is sliced off for insurance instead of being deposited into employee bank accounts. Annual premiums for employer-sponsored family coverage climbed nearly 4 percent this year to top...

Judge approves Kodak plan to exit bankruptcy NEW YORK (AP) — Kodak doesn’t look a whole lot like it did when it filed for bankruptcy protection last year, but its executives and investors are hoping for a picture-perfect future. Many of its products and services are gone, including the camera-making business that made it famous more than a century ago. Also gone are scores of workers, manufacturing facilities, supply contracts and millions of dollars in investments. On Tuesday, U.S. Bank...

Doctor: Marathon suspect was shot through face BOSTON (AP) — Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had been shot through the face and had a fractured skull, wounds to his lower extremities and bone injuries on his left hand when he was caught hiding in a boat in a suburban backyard, according to the surgeon who treated him. The most severe injury was from a bullet that appeared to enter through the left inside of his mouth and exit the lower section of his face on the left side...

FBI works to train police on mass killing response SALISBURY, Md. (AP) — Two men stand anxiously at a classroom entrance and another lies seriously wounded beside a wall outside. “Don’t come down here, I’m telling you — I’ll kill ‘em,” a man inside the classroom shouts to officers snaking down the corridor with guns drawn. A brief attempt at negotiations quickly fizzles as the officers approach the room, yell to the men inside to get down and take out the gunman in a swift firefight. The drill...

Vintage Chevy auction to deal in low-mileage gems PIERCE, Neb. (AP) — Seventeen years have passed since Ray Lambrecht closed his Chevrolet dealership, a small-town operation in northeast Nebraska with a big and valuable secret. For decades, the owner of the Lambrecht Chevrolet Co. in Pierce held on to new cars and trucks that didn’t sell right away. He stashed them in warehouses, at his farm and in other spots around the town he worked in for 50 years. Now, his automotive nest egg — about 500...

20-year-old charged in Georgia school shooting DECATUR, Ga. (AP) — A gunman opened fire with an assault rifle Tuesday at officers who shot back at an Atlanta-area elementary school, a police chief said, with dramatic overhead television footage capturing the young students racing out of the building, being escorted by teachers and police to safety. No one was injured. Just a week into the new school year, more than 800 students in pre-kindergarten to fifth grade were evacuated from Ronald ...